


Side Effect

by KuroNezushi



Category: No. 6 (Anime & Manga), No. 6 - All Media Types, No. 6 - Asano Atsuko
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Childhood Friends to Lovers, Drama, Eventual Smut, Fluff, M/M, Memory Loss, Mentions of past abuse, Mind Reading Powers, Mutual Pining, Mystery, Photographer! Nezumi, mind-reader! Shion
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:55:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26606347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KuroNezushi/pseuds/KuroNezushi
Summary: Ever since Shion can remember, he can hear people's thoughts, it's a debilitating ability that makes his day to day life very difficult. So far, nothing he's ever done stops his mind-reading powers, that is, until he meets a boy his age named Nezumi, who arrives in his village and suddenly, not only can he not hear Nezumi's thoughts but whenever they touch, Shion's world goes quiet.Ever since his parents died, Nezumi has been getting checks with 1000$ each month, the checks never had a return address so Nezumi just cashed them in, needing the money, until one day; a check arrived with a return address to the post office of a little village called Lost Town. Nezumi decides to go there, wanting to find the person who's been sending him these checks and it turns his world upside down.Both boys will have to uncover some secrets of their past in order to move on with their future.
Relationships: Nezumi/Shion (No. 6)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 34





	1. Nezumi

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my new Nezushi story!♡ I will try to post a chapter each month!~  
> Enjoy!!♡♡♡

The subway doors opened and Nezumi bolted up the stairs and towards the exit, he didn’t stop running until he reached the school. 

He was late, he hated arriving late to pick up his sister; ever since he had arrived an hour late to pick her up when she was 7, he always made sure to do the impossible to arrive on time. 

He could never forget the way his sister sobbed and told him she thought he had abandoned her. 

Today though, he had to stay behind after work, having to listen to his asshole of a boss scream at him and then getting fired because he had punched a client. 

In his defense though, the client dared to think that just because Nezumi was his server, it gave him the right to say inappropriate things to him and to grope him.    
  
Nezumi ignored the man at first but when the old man slapped his ass as he served him his refill of coke, Nezumi lost it and he punched him right in the mouth. 

He was surprised he wasn’t fired then and there, instead, his boss waited until Nezumi’s shift was over to scream at him for his behavior and proceeded to fire him. 

  
It was fine though, everything would be okay, he still had his night job and he’d find another daytime job soon.

“Oni-chan!” his sister called as she saw him arrive and made her way towards him as Nezumi stopped in front of the school gates to catch his breath. “You’re late!” 

“I’m so sorry Izumi, I got into trouble at work but I got here as fast as I could,” he said

“Why did you get in trouble?” Izumi asked, tilting her head.    
  
Nezumi sighed, “it’s a long story, we should get going, I only have an hour to make you something to eat before I have to go work again.” he said, grabbing Izumi’s backpack off her shoulders and carried it himself.

“Jesus, why is your bag so heavy?!” Nezumi grumbled

“It’s the end of the year, the teacher is asking us to start taking some books home,” Izumi replied

“Oh right, you finish school on Friday…” Nezumi hummed. 

The walk home consisted of Izumi chatting about her day and Nezumi half listening and half thinking about how he needed to start looking for a new day job quickly. 

They arrived at their building and Nezumi took out his keys, opening the mailbox, letting out a relieved sigh when he saw that he had a notice from the post office, informing him he had a check sent to him and needed it to pick it up. 

Finally, he’d be able to pay the rent. 

The check normally came around the first few days of each month but this month, Nezumi hadn’t gotten the check yet, it had started to make him think that maybe the person who sent it to him had decided to stop sending him checks.

It had all started when Nezumi was 13, a year after his parent’s death, he got a notice from the post office that a check had been sent to him. 

When Nezumi had gone to pick it up, he found himself with the surprise that it was a check for 1000$, but what was even weirder, was that the check didn’t have a return address or a name from the person who had sent it. 

From then on, each month, Nezumi got his check the first few days of the month, each time, no return address, making Nezumi more and more curious to know who was sending him those checks.    
  
From what he knew, he had no other family aside from his parents who had died so who could possibly send him a check; it was a mystery. 

A mystery that had Nezumi thank any God that could exist because, without it, he wouldn’t have been able to afford a two-bedroom apartment in No.6, even if it was in the shittiest part of town.

“And then I told her that when I’d have a lot of money, she’d regret making fun of my clothes… Oni-chan? Are you listening to me?” Izumi grumbled, shaking Nezumi’s arm as he finished closing the mailbox and they entered their building. 

“Yes, I’m listening Izu,” Nezumi replied although he hadn’t listened to a word she had said in the last couple of minutes or so. 

“Liar, you’re not.” Izumi pouted as they got into the elevator. 

Nezumi sighed and pushed his bangs off his forehead “I’m sorry, I have a lot on my mind.” 

They stepped off the elevator and Izumi ran down the hallway, only stopping in front of their door. 

“Oni-chan? What’s this?” Izumi asked, handing her brother a paper. “It was taped to the door,” she said

Nezumi raised an eyebrow, taking the paper from Izumi’s hands and read what it said. 

**_‘Eviction notice’_ ** could be read in big bold letters which made Nezumi frown with anger. 

He was only a couple of days late with the rent, there was no way it was legal for them to get evicted. 

He stepped in front of Izumi, opening the door for her, putting her backpack inside before looking at her slowly. 

“It’s nothing, don’t worry. Go inside, I’ll be right there to make you some food, I just need to go talk to the landlady real quick.” 

Izumi nodded and went inside, closing the door behind her before Nezumi made his way back to the elevator. 

He pressed the button for the first floor where his landlady lived, trying to stay calm when he stood in front of her front door and gently knocked on it.

After a moment, the door opened, revealing an old lady; she frowned as she saw Nezumi.

“What do you want?” She grumbled

“I was wondering if I could have five minutes of your time,” Nezumi spoke, his voice gentle, putting on his most charming smile. 

“What is it?” The woman grumbled again, leaning in her doorway. 

“I was wondering if perhaps you might have made a mistake when taping this to my door,” Nezumi said, showing the eviction notice to the woman who ripped it out of his hands, reading what she had written on the paper before handing it back to Nezumi.

“Nope, unless you’re not from apartment 606, then I didn’t make a mistake.” 

Nezumi frowned “Why are you evicting us, yes I’m late on rent but only by a couple of days…” 

The old woman scoffed “What did I say when you moved in, kid? I said: you must pay rent for the following month on the 15th of each month or get evicted. We’re the 27. You’re 11 days late to pay, and it’s not the first time you’re late paying rent either so I want you out.” 

Nezumi sighed “Ma’am, could you please give me one last chance, I received the rent money today, I just need to pick up the check at the post office and I’ll give it to you.”   
  
The old woman shook her head “I don’t want it, I want you out of the apartment by the end of the day.”    
  
“The day?! Ma’am please, at least give me a week to find another place to stay, I have a sister, she’s only 11, she can’t possibly sleep on the street…” Nezumi begged

“I don’t care, it’s not my problem. You get out by tonight.” The woman grumbled before shutting the door in Nezumi’s face, leaving him no room to keep arguing. 

Nezumi made his way back to the elevator, pressing the button a few times in hopes that it’d arrive quicker, though it still took its time.

“Fuck!” Nezumi screamed, kicking the elevator door before it opened. He stepped inside, exhaling sharply. 

What was he going to do? Where were they going to go? How was he going to tell his sister that they wouldn’t have a place to sleep?! 

He opened the door to his apartment to find Izumi on the couch, glued to the tv. She was watching one of her favorite programs, which pained Nezumi to have to give her the bad news now.    
  
“Izumi?” He called

No reaction. His sister didn’t seem to hear him so Nezumi made his way over to the TV, grabbing the remote before turning it off.

“Hey!” Izumi grumbled, frowning at Nezumi. 

“I’m sorry, I need to talk to you, it’s important.” He said, sitting down on the couch next to her.

“What is it?” she asked, tilting her head innocently, clearly having no clue what he was about to say. 

“Remember the paper you found glued the door?” He asked gently, watching his sister as she nodded slowly. 

  
“Well, that paper was telling us we need to find a new place to stay.” He said softly

Izumi frowned “why?” she asked, confused.

“I-uh- I didn’t pay the rent on time, so the landlady wants us to leave.” 

Izumi frowned again “but can’t you pay her now?” she asked

“I offered to, but she didn’t want me to. She wants us gone.”    
  
“Where are we going to go?” Izumi asked, raising her eyebrows in concern. 

“I-I don’t know Izu, but I’ll figure something out okay? For now, I just need you to start packing your stuff okay?” He said softly, ruffling Izumi’s hair gently.

Izumi nodded sadly before jumping down the couch and went to her bedroom. 

Nezumi sighed, freeing his hair from the ponytail it was in since it was giving him a headache and put the elastic band on his wrist, running his hands through his hair before getting up from the couch and made his way to his room.

Thankfully, packing wouldn’t be very difficult as they didn’t own many things and all the furniture and appliances had come with the apartment. 

Nezumi went to the kitchen and grabbed a plastic bag, putting the little food they had in it, feeling thankful that he hadn’t had time to go grocery shopping yet before he set the bag on the counter and went to his room.    
  
He grabbed the suitcase he kept under the bed and put it right on top of it, opening it before going to his closet and grabbed all of his clothes, taking them out of their hangers before throwing them in his suitcase. 

Then, he went to his drawers and did the same with his underwear and pajamas. 

Nezumi had never felt happier to not own many clothes than at that moment. 

Next, he went to the bathroom and grabbed the toiletries, and also threw them in his suitcase; lastly, he grabbed the two pictures he had on his nightstand and looked at them for a moment.

The first picture was of his family and him when he was little, in the picture, he was on his dad’s shoulders, a huge grin on his face. His mom was next to them, grinning into the camera. 

The second picture was of him and a little boy with brown hair, they both looked to be around 10 years old. 

It was Nezumi’s birthday in the picture, it was obvious because both boys were sitting behind a huge chocolate cake that read ‘Happy Birthday Nezumi’ in bright red letters. 

Nezumi stroked the boy’s face in the picture with his thumb, watching how the boy wore a huge smile on his face.    
  
He couldn’t help but feel a knot in his stomach as he looked at the picture; Shion had been his childhood best friend as well as his first crush. First and only crush to be exact, if it wasn’t for Shion, Nezumi would have never grown to be who he is today.    
  
He wondered how Shion would have grown up to be? He always had a kind and bubbly personality; Nezumi was sure he would have stayed the same. If only he hadn’t died in that accident that had also killed his parents… 

Nezumi sighed before putting the pictures in his suitcase; he then grabbed his camera that was sitting on his other nightstand on top of his laptop and put it in his camera bag. 

He then grabbed his laptop and charger as well as his phone charger and put it in his suitcase before zipping it all up. He rolled it to the front door before entering his sister’s room. “Are you ready Izu?” he asked.

“Almost! I just need to get Tsukiyo into the pet carrier, he won’t let me catch him!” Izumi grumbled.

Ah, yes, the rats. 

  
“Let me do it,” Nezumi said, making his way to the cage and grabbing the little rat, quickly putting him in the pet carrier, closing it so they wouldn’t escape. 

“What are we going to do with the cage?” Izumi asked

“We can’t take it, it’s too big, let’s just leave it here. I’ll buy a new one when we’ll find another home okay?” Nezumi said to his sister, watching as she nodded slowly. 

“Where are we going now?” Izumi asked

“To my work, you’ll stay in the breakroom, I’ll buy you some food when we get there,” Nezumi replied before grabbing Izumi’s suitcase from the bed and wheeled it out of the room. 

Nezumi wheeled the suitcases to the hallway, setting them there with Izumi along with his camera bag before he went back into the apartment and checked that he had taken everything he owned with him and once he was sure he had it all, he turned off the lights and went outside, locking the door before making his way towards Izumi.    
  
He asked her to just carry the pet carrier and that he’d take care of everything else, so after they got everything in the elevator and that Nezumi left his key in the landlady’s mailbox, they left the building.

“We need to go to the post office before it closes,” Nezumi informed his sister, checking his phone to see how much time they had left before his shift. 

Thankfully, 30 minutes should be enough. 

Some walking and a train ride later, the siblings made it to the post office. Izumi stayed by the door while Nezumi walked up to the counter where an employee was working. 

Nezumi fished out the notice he had received earlier and slapped it on the counter, a little harder than necessary, startling the employee.    
  
“Hi, what can I do for you today, sir?” 

“Hi, I’m here to retrieve a check,” He said, sliding the paper towards the employee.    
  
“Sure, one moment sir,” The woman grabbed the notice paper and after reading it carefully and typed some numbers into her computer, she looked up at Nezumi again. “May I see your ID?” she asked 

Nezumi took his wallet out of his inner jacket pocket and took his ID out, handing it to the woman. 

He watched as she looked at it before looking at Nezumi and then went back to typing something on her computer. 

She left the counter a couple of seconds later and came back with the check.    
  
“Here you go, sir,” she said, handing it to him along with his ID. “Is there anything else I can do for you today?” 

Nezumi shook his head as he slipped his ID back into his wallet and put his wallet back in the inner pocket of his jacket. “No, that’s it. Thanks,”

“Okay, have a nice evening, sir.” The employee responded with a smile.

“You too,” Nezumi replied before grabbing the check and turned around.    
  
He made it a couple of steps away from the counter before he stopped. 

His eyes went wide as he watched the check with attention and shock. For the first time in 10 years, there was a returning address. 

He didn’t have time to think about it too much as his sister started calling him “Oni-chan! I’m starving, can we go now?” 

“Yes, sorry,” Nezumi mumbled, putting the check in his inner pocket before walking over to Izumi, grabbing their bags from her before exiting the post office. 

A bus ride later, they entered the convenience store where Nezumi worked at night. They got in through the back and entered the break room where Nezumi’s coworker was getting ready for their shift.    
  
“Yo Nezumi, just in time. Hurry up and get changed before our shift starts.”    
  
“Hey Inukashi, yeah just a moment,” Nezumi replied as he pulled the suitcases inside the room and gestured Izumi to hurry up and get in. 

  
“What’s up with the suitcases? And who’s the mini Nezumi?” Inukashi asked, raising an eyebrow.

“That’s my little sister, Izumi,” Nezumi replied, grabbing the pet carrier from Izumi’s hands and placing it on the small table next to the door. 

“You have a sister? Why did you never tell me you had a sister?!” Inukashi gasped before looking at the little girl who looked at him curiously. 

“Are you a boy or a girl?” Izumi asked, making Inukashi chuckle and Nezumi frown.

“Izumi!” Nezumi hissed 

“It’s fine. I’m used to it.” Inukashi waved him off before looking at the girl again “I’m neither, I’m non-binary.”    
  
Izumi hummed “okay.” before Nezumi instructed her to sit at the table.    
  
“Here, play on my phone, I’ll get changed and get you a sandwich,” Nezumi said, handing his sister his cellphone before opening his locker, grabbing his uniform, and went to the small bathroom to get changed. 

“So, what’s up with the suitcases?” Inukashi asked Izumi as they made their way towards the table, leaning against it and looking at the pet carrier, watching the rats with curiosity. 

“We got kicked out of our apartment,” Izumi replied without looking up from the phone. 

“Why’s that?” Inukashi asked, inserting a finger through one of the holes in the pet carrier, trying to caress the fur of one of the rats that was laying close to it. 

“Nii-chan didn’t pay the rent this month,” Izumi replied again, this time, looking up to watch Inukashi. 

“Where are you gonna go?” Inukashi asked

“A motel, probably,” Nezumi replied from behind, emerging out of the bathroom in his uniform. 

  
Inukashi peeled themself off the table before opening the backroom door that led to the store and left the siblings alone. 

“What sandwich do you want?” Nezumi asked softly, making his way closer to the table.

“Curry sandwich,” Izumi replied, not lifting her face from his phone. 

“Be right back,” Nezumi informed her, taking his wallet with him before making his way to the store. 

He made his way directly to the aisle where he knew the premade sandwiches were and grabbed a curry sandwich as well as a bottle of water before making his way to the cash register where Inukashi was already ready to start working. 

Nezumi paid for the items before going back to the backroom and gave them to his sister before making his way back to the front of the store to start his shift. 

As always, his shift was pretty uneventful, a couple of people came in but not that many, this was why he preferred the night shifts even if it meant he got home at 2 am.

“Hey I was thinking, why don’t you guys stay at my apartment for a couple of days until you figure out where to live?” Inukashi suggested as they both were closing the store and cleaning everything up.

“Sure, that’d be great, thanks Inukashi,” Nezumi replied

“Of course, that’s what friends are for,” Inukashi replied with a smile, surprising Nezumi with their response. 

He hadn’t considered his coworker as a friend but it somehow made him happy that his coworker considered him as such.

They arrived in the backroom only to find Izumi asleep, laying down on the table with her head between her arms. 

They both got changed quickly out of their uniforms before Inukashi whispered to Nezumi that they’d carry all of the bags and pet carrier so Nezumi could carry his sister in his arms and so, a train ride later, they arrived at Inukashi’s apartment.    
  
They were immediately assaulted by 3 big dogs, making Izumi stir in Nezumi’s arms before Inukashi could make the dogs calm down. 

Inukashi told Nezumi that they had 2 rooms, one that once belonged to Inukashi’s deceased mother and was used as a room for the dogs so that Inukashi would sleep there and that they’d lend their room to Nezumi and Izumi. 

A change of sheets later, Nezumi was tucking his sister in bed, amazed that she hadn’t woken up once.

“Thank you so much again for letting us stay here and use your room,” Nezumi said as he met Inukashi in the living room. 

“I told you, I’m happy to help a friend,” Inukashi replied before stretching. “Hand me your phone, I’ll write you the wifi password and then I’m going to bed.”   
  


Nezumi unlocked his phone, noticing it was on 3% battery, opening it, going to his notes app before handing it to Inukashi who quickly typed the wifi password before handing it back to him.

“Alright then, make yourself at home, I’m going to bed,” Inukashi said

  
“Thanks, goodnight,” Nezumi replied, watching how Inukashi waved at him before disappearing down the hallway. 

Nezumi grabbed the bags and rolled them to Inukashi’s room, watching how his sister slept peacefully. 

He went over to the plastic bag where he had put a couple of non-perishable foods as well as the rat food. 

He grabbed that before going to the pet carrier where the rats immediately perked up at the sound of someone approaching. 

Nezumi closed the bedroom door before opening the pet carrier, letting the rats roam freely in the room, not wanting them to be cooped up in a space not fit for 3 rats. 

He placed some food in the pet carrier and watched them eat for a little while before he went over to his suitcase and opened it up, he grabbed his laptop as well as both of his laptop charger and phone charger.

After plugging both of them up, he turned off lights and let the glow of the laptop illuminate the room.    
  


He watched as two of the rats, Hamlet and Tsukiyo, ran around his legs. Nezumi chuckled before he went back to look at the computer screen. 

Something was bothering him and he couldn’t get it out of his mind. 

This month’s check... Why did the check have an address all of a sudden? 

He pushed his laptop off his lap, got up, and went to grab his leather jacket. 

He took his wallet out of the inner pocket and proceeded to get the check out. He stared at it for a moment, wanting to make sure he hadn’t imagined things but just as it was there before, staring back at him, was a returning address.

  
Nezumi sat back down on the bed and pulled his laptop on his lap again and looked up the address. 

He found out that the address belonged to the post office of a little village called Lost Town.    
  
Lost Town was 3 hours away from No.6, it was a little village by the ocean and it had only 320 inhabitants.    
  
Nezumi tried to find more information about the little village but he couldn’t find much. 

One thing he found was all roads to the village had been blocked years ago by a rockfall that had left the roads in a pitiful state, unable for cars to go through. 

Which had made the mayor of the village ask the city of No.6 for help which had resulted in them building a railroad track, rendering the village only accessible by train. It was something relatively new as it had been put into place 9 years ago. 

Why would someone in the village of Lost Town be sending him money? 

Did this mean that he had family there? 

But if he had family, why hadn’t they come and get them when their parents passed?

It made no sense. And if it wasn’t someone from Nezumi’s family, then why were they sending him money? 

He had to get to the bottom of this, he had spent too many years without answers, now that he finally knew where the person sending him money lived, he at least had to go there to try and find out if he could find that person. 

Nezumi decided that next week, once Izumi was done with school, they’d go spend their summer to Lost Town, see if he could find the person who sent him those checks, and also have his sister see the ocean for the first time; he knew it was something that she had wanted to do for years. 

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Seven days later, Nezumi found himself on the train, on his way to Lost Town, along with his sister, their rats, and all of their belongings. 

Nezumi spent part of the train ride taking pictures of the scenery outside and the rest of it sleeping, having his sister Izumi wake him up when they arrived. 

He put his camera back into its bag before pushing the suitcases, making sure his sister was following him outside the train.

As soon as they stepped outside, Nezumi inhaled deeply, the smell of the ocean filling his lungs.

“Are we going to the motel now?” Izumi asked

Nezumi hummed “I doubt there’s a motel here but there must be an inn… though I couldn’t find anything about it on the internet so we’ll have to walk to find it.” 

Izumi pouted “Are we getting something to eat first? I’m starving…” 

Nezumi nodded “if we find a place to buy food on the way to the inn, sure.” 

Izumi sighed audibly before they began walking. 

“Oni-chan? How much further?” Izumi asked as they had passed what was like 10 houses. 

Nezumi shrugged “I don’t know Izu, we just have to keep walking.”

  
“But I’m tired and it’s so hot out. I hate it here.” 

“We’ve just arrived Izumi, don’t be difficult, you’ll have fun, I promise. We’re gonna see the ocean and go to the beach as you’ve always dreamed of. You were so excited when I told you we were coming here.” 

Izumi groaned “but I didn’t know we would have to walk in the sun so much!” 

Nezumi sighed “I didn’t know that either Izumi, but we won’t walk forever, so just be patient okay?” He asked

“Fine,” Izumi grumbled

Eventually, the big houses stopped and smaller houses made way into the village. They passed a playground with a swing set and a basketball court before walking in front of a big school.    
  
As they passed the school, they passed the post office, making Nezumi stop for a moment, wondering if he should go ask about the check but he decided it was best to get settled inside the inn first.

They kept walking until suddenly, the smell of freshly baked bread invaded the air. 

“Oni-chan! There’s a bakery! Let’s go!!” Izumi said, pointing ahead of them towards the small bakery before rushing towards it.

“Izumi! Wait up!” Nezumi called but his sister didn’t listen to him, running into the bakery.

He cursed under his breath before rushing behind her, pushing the suitcases as fast as he could on the pebbly ground.

  
Nezumi stepped inside the bakery, pushing the sweaty bangs off his forehead. “Izumi, I told you not to run!” he grumbled, watching how his sister was glued to the glass display counter where a lot of pastries were in exhibition. 

He looked up from his sister to find who he assumed was the baker.    
  
Behind the counter, was standing a woman dressed in an apron, she had a hand over her mouth, looking shocked with her eyes wide and her eyebrows raised high. 

“Hi, I’m sorry if my sister has caused you some troubles, I told her not to run.” Nezumi offered as an apology, wondering if Izumi had been rude to the woman. 

The woman’s eyes settled on him and she gasped loudly, making Nezumi raise an eyebrow at her in confusion. 

He was about to ask what was wrong before Izumi pulled at his sleeve. 

“Oni-chan!! I want a piece of cheesecake!!” Izumi called, making Nezumi lower his eyes to look at his sister.    
  
“Sure, but let’s get a sandwich too and something to drink okay?” 

Izumi hummed and nodded, smiling widely.    
  
Nezumi looked up at the woman again, she had lowered her hand from her face and he could see her face more clearly. 

She looked to be in her 40’s, she had shoulder-length brown hair with soft brown eyes. Her eyes were kind even if she still wore a shocked expression.    
  
Her eyes reminded Nezumi of his childhood friend Shion, it made him think that if he had grown up, maybe his eyes would resemble the woman’s.    
  
Nezumi swallowed, trying to get rid of the knot in his throat before smiling at the woman. “Do you sell any sandwiches?” he asked

The woman blinked before nodding and smiled at them. “Y-Yes, I’m sorry, you should go take a seat, I’ll bring you a menu,” she said, gesturing the tables behind them.

Izumi rushed towards it before sitting down and set the pet carrier on the table. Nezumi wheeled the suitcases close to the table and set his camera bag down, letting it rest on the chair he was going to occupy before sitting down.

  
“Izumi, put the pet carrier on the floor.” He whispered quickly, not wanting the woman to be disturbed by the rats.

Izumi pouted but did as she was told, grinning as she saw the woman approach their table with 2 menus. 

  
“Here you go.” She said, handing a menu to Izumi and another one to Nezumi.

The younger sibling quickly grabbed it, mumbling a thank you before her eyes began scanning the menu curiously. 

Nezumi on the other hand, didn’t look at the menu just yet, instead, he looked at the woman, scanning her face, wondering why her face seemed so familiar. 

“Are you visiting family? I haven’t seen you around here before.” The woman spoke, a gentle tone to her voice.

“Uh-no, we’re on vacation actually. We’re here to see the ocean.” Nezumi replied with a smile

The woman frowned at his words before tilting her head “Oh? But will you be staying at a friend’s then? Most people who don’t live here come to visit family.”    
  
Nezumi shook his head “Nope, we don’t know anyone here, we’re gonna stay in the inn… Speaking of which, could you let us know where it is please?” 

“I’m sorry but there isn’t an inn in the village. People that aren’t from here or that don’t have family here don’t usually come to Lost Town…” 

Nezumi blinked “I doubt there’s a motel then?” he asked with a nervous laugh

The woman shook her head, making Nezumi curse under his breath.

“What does that mean, Oni-chan? Where are we going to sleep? Does it mean we have to go home?” Izumi asked, making Nezumi look at her quickly before looking at the woman.

“I-uh- I don’t know Izu, I need a moment to think,” Nezumi replied with a sigh, running a hand through his bangs in frustration.

“I don’t want to go home! You promise I’d get to see the ocean! Oni-chan, you promised!” Izumi grumbled, shaking Nezumi’s arm.

“Stop it! I know I promised but it’s not my fault there isn’t a place for us to stay!” Nezumi snapped

He watched how Izumi’s eyes filled with tears which made Nezumi sigh “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to raise my voice.” he said, pulling his sister into a hug. 

“You could stay at my home, I have a spare room.” The baker suggested, making both siblings look at her, surprised.    
  
“For real?” Izumi asked, her eyes full of hope. 

The woman nodded, a soft smile on her face. “Yes.”    
  
“Wait- why would you help us?” Nezumi asked, wary.

“You don’t have a place to stay and you’ve come all this way, plus, I have the space.” The woman said softly.

“We’re going to stay, right, Oni-chan?” Izumi asked and Nezumi sighed softly, ruffling his sister’s hair.    
  
“Yes,” he said, watching how Izumi cheered and went back to read her menu.

“Thank you, ma’am. Of course, I’ll pay you to rent of the room, I can’t let us stay for free,” he said

The woman shook her head “No, I couldn’t accept. As long as you help with the dishes it’d be enough. Plus, we could use the company now that Safu left.” she said, before smiling “and please call me Karan.”   
  


Nezumi nodded “thank you Karan.” he paused before tilting his head “you and your husband?” he asked

Karan shook her head “me and my son.” she said before smiling at them again.

“Take your time ordering your food, I’ll show you to your room after.”

Nezumi nodded and smiled at her before he watched her disappear behind the counter. 

They ordered their food and ate it quickly, both starving. 

They ate their dessert as well and paid before getting up as Karan began closing the bakery, telling them that she closed every day at 4 pm. 

After that, they exited the bakery and Karan brought them to a small house close to the bakery. 

They got in through the garden; there was a small pool in the garden, which Izumi seemed excited about.    
  
Karan told her that she could use it whenever she wanted to, which made her bounce up and down excitedly until Nezumi reminded her that the rats wouldn’t like it to be bounced up and down which made her stop immediately.

They entered the house through a sliding door that led them to the very spacious kitchen, it had granite countertops as well as a big fridge near the door. 

Karan closed the sliding door before stepping further inside the kitchen.

There was a small round dining room table with four chairs in the middle of the room and next to it, there was an old worn-out couch and in front of it, sat a medium-sized television, though it was quite an older model.

Karan placed her keys on the counter before turning to the siblings, “Here is the kitchen slash dining room slash living room. It’s not that big but it’s cozy.” she said

Suddenly, the sliding door reopened, making everyone turn around to look at it. 

“Mom! I’m home-” A voice called and a boy stepped inside. 

As soon as Nezumi laid eyes on the boy, his eyes went wide. 

The boy had white hair, fair skin, and a snake-like scar that went from his cheek, down his neck and he assumed coiled around his body as the same scar reappeared on the boy’s leg down to his ankle. It could be seen since the boy was wearing shorts.

It wasn’t the boy’s strange appearance that had shocked Nezumi but what shocked him was how much he looked like his childhood best friend Shion. 

It was so weird because Nezumi sadly hadn’t had the opportunity of seeing his best friend growing up but he was sure that if he had gotten the opportunity to grow up, he would look like this boy.

“Shion, welcome home honey!” Karan said and Nezumi turned and looked at her with wide eyes before looking back at the boy. 

His name was Shion, just like his Shion? This was too big of a coincidence. 

“You’re renting Safu’s room to them?” Shion asked, watching his mom nod which made him smile.

“I think it’s a very good idea, especially if they didn’t have anywhere else to go.” 

“Wait- how do you know that?” Izumi asked, taking a couple of steps closer to Shion.

“Uh-” Shion opened his mouth to speak but Nezumi cut him off.

“Wait- wait! This- I- you’re Shion?” 

Shion blinked and nodded, tilting his head. “I am…”    
  
Nezumi moved towards Shion, looking him up and down. “Do you know who I am?” 

Shion frowned at his words and shook his head “should I?” 

Nezumi swallowed and bit his lower lip. “No, sorry,” he mumbled before moving away from him.    
  
Both Karan and his sister were looking at him as if he had grown a second head, which made Nezumi feel even worse. 

He looked away, keeping his eyes on the floor.

He was going crazy, there was no way this was his childhood best friend, no matter how much they looked alike and even if they had the same name, his childhood best friend was dead, he had died 11 years ago in the same fire that had killed his parents...


	2. Shion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is Chapter 2, from Shion's perspective this time!! I'm so glad I got so many positive comments in regard to Nezumi's sister and their relationship!!♡♡ 
> 
> I can't wait to hear your thoughts on this chapter!!♡♡♡♡ 
> 
> Enjoy♡♡♡

Shion woke up anxious that morning; it was the day that Safu was leaving for her internship at No.6.    
  


He decided that today he was going to dress in yellow since yellow was the color of sunlight and happiness. 

Each day, he would put on colorful clothing, finding that contrary to dull colors, colorful colors cheered him up even when his days were grey. 

  
He went to brush his teeth, take a shower, and got dressed. This morning, he put on a light yellow T-shirt with a yellow cardigan and matched it with his yellow shorts that had little ruffles at the hem and yellow socks that went up to his ankles, peaking out of his favorite pair of white sneakers.

He left his room and knocked on Safu’s door that was right next to his.

  
“Come in,” she called 

He stepped inside the bedroom, finding Safu closing her suitcase.

_ \--“I think I packed everything, but what if I forgot something important? I’ve checked my checklist 4 times and I’ve quadruple-checked that I have everything but I still feel like I’m missing something.”-- _ _  
  
_

Ever since he could remember, Shion had the ability to hear people’s fleeting thoughts, anything they’d think of when he was near them, he’d hear it. 

Over the years he had realized that his ability extended to 9 feet around him, which was very overwhelming when he was out in public. 

When he heard multiple thoughts at the same time, Shion would get very bad migraines. 

He had gotten used to hearing the thoughts of 3 people at the same time, and even if it gave him severe headaches, he had learned how to manage it but any more than that overwhelmed him too much, causing him to get panic attacks when too many people were around him. 

All the sounds would mix together in his head, the thoughts and the spoken voices, all loud in his mind and caused him to freak out. 

There was nothing Shion could do to stop hearing people’s thoughts, he had tried so hard to control it but he could do nothing to stop it.

At first, it was only the immediate thoughts he could hear, but over the years, his abilities had evolved and now, if he touched someone, he could read their minds, hearing their most inner thoughts. 

He couldn’t control hearing people’s immediate thoughts but he could control reading into their minds so, to do so, Shion refrained from touching people or having people touch him, the only person who didn’t care if Shion heard read her mind was Safu and it was the only person he could hold hands with or hug.    
  
Shion felt grateful to be living in a small village that only had around 300 people which meant that it wasn’t often that he was in contact with a big crowd of people but it also meant that he couldn’t leave the village. 

  
  


Shion chuckled as he heard Safu’s thoughts and shook his head “If you’ve forgotten something, I can always send it to you.”    
  
Safu nodded “you’re right, I’m freaking out over nothing.” she replied, before sighing and sitting down on the bed.

“I’m so nervous Shion, it’s the first time ever that I’ll be living on my own.” 

Shion walked over to the bed and sat down next to his friend “You’ll do great, you’re the most responsible person I know.”    
  
Safu nodded and smiled “Thanks, you always know how to make me feel better.” She replied, watching Shion. “I’m going to miss you so much.” 

“I’m going to miss you too Safu.” Shion replied with a smile before sighing “I wish I could go with you.” he added

“I wish you could come with me too, and you will! Not right now of course, but I told you already, the only reason I took this internship is so I can find a way to cure you and once I do, you’ll be able to live a normal life.” Safu replied with a grin.

Shion hummed softly “Thank you Safu…” he whispered

Safu chuckled “you don’t need to thank me, silly. I’m doing this because I love you and I want you to live a normal life but it’s also for me because seeing you happy is what matters the most to me.” Safu replied, grabbing Shion’s hands and laced their fingers together.

_ \--“I’m so in love with you Shion, I can’t wait to cure you so we can be together.”-- _   
  
Shion swallowed, feeling a knot in his stomach. Each time Safu touched him, he could hear her deeper thoughts, the ones she didn’t allow to flow freely when she was next to Shion and each time, Shion felt an overwhelming sense of guilt.

It wasn’t a secret that Safu was in love with him, she had confessed her feelings to him when they were 18 but Shion had rejected her, he told her he couldn’t be with her due to his ability to hear thoughts and read minds, that they wouldn’t be able to have a normal relationship and that it wouldn’t be fair to her.    
  
Safu understood him and agreed and she vowed that she’d find a cure for Shion’s ability and that once she did, they’d be together.

Still, something was off and Shion couldn’t quite place what. He loved Safu, he adored her beyond words and she was beautiful but he wasn’t attracted to her. 

Shion hadn’t really been attracted to anyone, ever really and it made him question if he had the ability to be romantically or sexually attracted to people.    
  
“Shion?” Safu spoke, her voice low as he squeezed Shion’s hand “Are you okay?”    
  
Shion bit his lower lip and pulled his hand away from Safu. He didn’t want to hurt her but he couldn’t lie to her.    
  
Ever since Shion got his ability to hear people’s thoughts, he realized that most people never really said what they truly felt or meant to anyone. 

They were always holding back or hiding their true intentions and it was something that had really bothered Shion so he had decided to always say whatever was on his mind and never lie, to anyone. 

It was something that his mom and Safu appreciated a lot but it was also something that had gotten him in a lot of trouble over the years. 

“No, I-I heard it again… how you think you’re in love with me…” He said softly, looking up at her only to find her blushing. 

“It’s fine, you knew it already,” Safu said with a shrug.

“I know but… I feel bad Safu,” He watched as her brows furrowed in confusion

\-- _ “he doesn’t love me.”-- _

He heard Safu’s thoughts at the same time that she spoke “Why do you feel bad?”

Shion shook his head “I do love you Safu, it’s just, I feel that it’s not fair for you to wait for me to be cured to be in a relationship, what if I’m never cured?” 

“It’s not fair to me for you to decide what I do or not. If I want to wait for you for the rest of my life, it’s my choice to make. I love you Shion and I couldn’t be with anyone else, because no one is you. Don’t feel bad for making me wait, I want to.” Safu spoke softly before getting up from the bed, a determined look on her face.

“I didn’t study my ass off remotely to be placed between the top 3 best students of my whole field and to win an internship to the most prestigious company for Neuroscientific research in the whole country to not come up with a cure for your mind-reading,” she said, pausing to grin at Shion.

“I will come up with a cure for you, I promise you that.” 

Shion smiled and got up from the bed “You’re right, I’m sorry. You’re brilliant Safu, one of the most talented Neuroscientists in our generation, of course, you can make anything happen.”

Safu nodded “Damn right!” she said before pulling Shion by the hand “let’s go get breakfast quickly before we need to go, I can’t miss my train.” 

They arrived downstairs to find Karan finishing to put the plates on the table.

“Good Morning kids! Safu, are you ready for your new life in No.5?” Karan asked, making Shion and Safu exchange a knowing look.

“I’m excited but also terrified,” Safu replied as she sat down at the table

Shion sighed and sat down at the table before he began to eat. He never lied to anyone about what he thought or felt but Safu had asked him to lie about where her internship took place, which gave Shion a lot of anxiety. 

He wasn’t used to lying at all but he understood why Safu had to do it. Ever since could remember, his mom had spoken about her hate for the city of No.6. 

Whenever something about the city would come up on the news, she would find a way to criticize it.

Whenever Shion or Safu had tried to ask Karan why she hated No.6 so much, she would get upset. The only person who had ever known the truth had been Safu’s grandmother but it was a secret that she took to her grave.

Shion had accidentally tapped into his mom’s memories one time when he was younger, which had led him to learn that Karan had lived in No.6 at some point but it still didn’t give him a clear image as to why she hated this city so much. 

When Safu had expressed her dream of becoming a Neuroscientist to help cure Shion of his mind-reading abilities, Karan had been overjoyed.

Until Safu had expressed her interest in working at Tachibana Enterprises, the biggest and most prestigious neuroscientific research center in the whole country located in the city of No.6. 

Karan got so upset, it had shocked both Safu and Shion.

She told Safu how she would never let her go there, speaking about how she had promised her Safu’s grandmother that she’d take care of her as if she were her own and how she couldn’t allow her to go work at that company.

Safu had replied to Karan that she didn’t even think that she’d get into the internship program as it was very difficult to get accepted and that she’d also apply to other companies in other cities.

Safu didn’t expect to get accepted to every company she applied to, including Tachibana Enterprises in No.6 but she did. 

After thinking about it a lot, Safu concluded that in order to have access to the most advanced technologies, research materials, and best laboratories, she had to work in No.6 so she came up with a plan; a plan that required her to lie to Karan.

She told Shion the truth because she knew that he’d figure it out on his own by hearing her thoughts or reading her mind so it was best that he’d know and help her lie. 

Safu decided to tell Karan that she hadn’t been accepted to Tachibana Enterprises and that it was the only company that had rejected her. 

She also told Karan that she had decided to take an internship for a company in No.5. 

Karan thought Safu would be 16 hours away when in reality, she’d only been 3 hours away by train.

After eating breakfast, Shion went to get Safu’s suitcase from her room while his mom and Safu said their goodbyes. 

Once that was done, Shion wheeled Safu’s suitcase outside and they began walking towards the train station.

It was early in the morning so it was still a little chilly outside which made Shion grateful to have put on a cardigan.

“Text me when you get there okay?” Shion asked as they reached the platform. 

“Of course!” Safu replied before pulling Shion into a hug. 

He felt his eyes fill with tears as his mind started getting filled with all sorts of memories he had shared with Safu, memories that were flashing in Safu’s mind.    
  
The first time they had met; the first time they had spoken, the countless nights they spent watching movies together, the first outfit Shion had made for Safu, the many times they had gotten in the pool together, all the meals and breakfast they had shared, all the nights they had stayed awake talking, each hug they had given each other… 

_ \--”I don’t want to let you go; he smells so good; his arms feel so good around me; oh crap, he heard that. Please pretend you didn’t hear that, Shion.”--  _ Safu’s thoughts flooded Shion’s mind, mixing with his own. 

He pulled away from the hug as it was becoming all too overwhelming and watched how Safu was crying as well. “I’ll miss you so much Shion!”   
  
“I’ll miss you too Safu, so much.” Shion replied sincerely; it would be the first time they’d ever be apart after having grown up together since the age of 12. 

The train arrived and Shion helped Safu get her suitcase on the train before he hugged her one last time quickly and watched how the doors closed in front of him.    
  
They waved at each other as the train started moving and Shion only lowered his hand once the train was out of sight.

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Ever since Shion could remember, he had loved clothes and fashion. While 13 year old Safu wore her grandmother’s hand-me-downs and was uninterested in how she looked, Shion was overly preoccupied with the appearance of his clothing. 

He didn’t have many clothes but the few he had, he made sure to pair them well together. 

He’d stay glued to the TV watching fashion shows and designer programs. 

He became so invested in it that one day he decided that he wanted to make his own clothes. 

Safu’s grandmother made every article of clothing Safu owned so Shion asked her if she could teach him how to sow. 

He made his first pair of shorts for his mom at the age of 13 and even if it wasn’t perfect, she cherished it a lot. 

He practiced and made Safu her first sweater not long after that.    
  
Shion would spend hours looking up patterns on the local library’s computer of clothing that was in style in No.6 or even in other countries and he’d reproduce them. 

He would either buy fabric or he’d buy clothes at the local clothing store and he’d tear them apart only to make something completely new out of them.

He had his own sense of style that maybe was something normal for people in No.6, as fashion was more predominant but in the village of West Block, people’s clothing were more old fashion, even for young people.

After finishing high school, Shion had it clear what he wanted to do. 

He dreamed of becoming a fashion designer and creating his own brand of clothes.

Sadly, the closest he could get to that dream was working at the local clothing store, selling clothes. 

Shion didn’t mind though, the store was small, and not many people came during the week and he had the weekends off so it wasn’t all that bad.

He headed to the store to start his shift, glad it was Friday already.

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Finally, his shift was over. After closing and locking up the store, Shion made his way home.

Even if it was 5pm already, the sun was still shining brightly so Shion took his cardigan off and tied it to his waist.

Arriving home, he pushed the gate of the backyard open and stepped into the garden. He crossed it, passing the pool to get to the kitchen door.

He pushed the sliding door open and stepped inside the house. “Mom! I’m home-” he called before freezing.

In the kitchen in front of him, stood two people with his mom.    
  
“Shion! Welcome Home Honey!” Karan called

_ \--“These siblings came from No.6 to spend the summer here. They had no idea there were no inns and had nowhere to go so I’m renting them Safu’s room okay?”-- _ Karan thought, watching Shion intensely as if she wasn’t sure if he’d hear her thoughts or not.

“You’re renting Safu’s room to them?” Shion asked, wanting to make sure he had heard her right, trying to filter out the other thoughts he heard. 

He saw how his mom nodded at him.

He smiled, his mom was so kind, she had such a big heart and always tried to help the less fortunate. 

Smiling, Shion spoke, “I think it’s a very good idea, especially if they didn’t have anywhere else to go.” 

“Wait- how do you know that?” One of the siblings asked, she was a young girl with long black hair that cascaded down her back, her eyes were light grey and she wore a red t-shirt, matched with plaid red shorts. 

_ \--“How does he know all that? He looks weird but he’s so pretty and he dresses so well.”--  _ She took a couple of steps closer to Shion, watching him warily, making him chuckle softly as the expression on her face didn’t match her thoughts.

“Uh-” Shion opened his mouth to speak, unsure of what he was going to say. No one besides Safu and his mom knew about his mind-reading abilities and he wanted it to keep it that way.

Just as he was about to come up with something, the older sibling spoke, cutting Shion’s train of thought.

“Wait- wait! This- I- you’re Shion?” 

Shion watched the young man, he looked to be around his age and looked so much like his sister. 

He also had black hair but shorter and pulled up in a small ponytail. 

He had the same eye color as his sister but for some reason, Shion found that he could lose himself in them.    
  
The way his eyes shined with the light and looked at him in a way that had shivers run down Shion’s spine. 

His gaze was so intense, so beautiful. They were so expressive, Shion could really see all of his emotions flash in his eyes.

Shion blinked, realizing that the young man needed an answer, and nodded, tilting his head in confusion. “I am…”    
  
The young man moved towards Shion, quickly, looking him up and down, scanning his eyes over every one of Shion’s features. “Do you know who I am?” 

Shion frowned at his words, even more confused. 

He shook his head slowly “should I?” 

Shion watched how the man swallowed and looked conflicted as well as sad, “No, sorry.” he mumbled before moving away from Shion.

“Okay, Shion; this is Nezumi and his little sister Izumi, they’ll be staying here for a while so I hope you get along,” Karan spoke before looking at the siblings

“I’ll show you the room okay?” She added before making her way up the stairs.   
  


They followed Karan upstairs and Shion exhaled softly, he didn’t want to hide his mind-reading abilities. 

At home, it was the only time he could be himself without worrying about anything he said or did… 

He made his way upstairs and as he passed Safu’s room, he could hear his mom’s thoughts as well as Izumi but he couldn’t hear Nezumi’s.

Shion froze in the doorway; he hadn’t realized it earlier but he hadn’t heard Nezumi’s thoughts either, he hadn’t realized it because he had so many thoughts mixed in his head and he also had been hypnotized by Nezumi’s gaze but now he could see it clearly. 

For some reason, he couldn’t hear Nezumi’s thoughts.

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Shion changed out of his clothes to his pajamas, which consisted of an oversized t-shirt and some shorts. With the t-shirt on, it didn’t look like he had shorts on as the t-shirt arrived just below his knees but he enjoyed how comfortable he felt to sleep in with those clothes. 

He went downstairs to help his mom with dinner. 

He started with putting on the table, adding plates, and cutlery for Nezumi and Izumi. After that, he helped his mom with the salad, washing the lettuce and cutting the tomatoes before he started preparing the dressing as his mom was making the main course. 

Once dinner was done, Karan asked him if he could go inform the sibling's dinner was ready. 

Shion made his way upstairs and as soon as he got in the hallway, he began hearing Izumi’s thoughts. 

He tried his best to ignore them as he walked up to the door and knocked on it. 

The door opened, revealing Izumi who tilted her head as she saw Shion. “Yeah?”    
  


“uh-Dinner’s ready if you want to come to eat with us…” Shion replied softly.

“We’ll be there in a minute, thanks!” Izumi replied with a grin before shutting the door.

Shion exhaled and turned around, making his way downstairs. 

He was placing the plates of food on the table when Izumi and Nezumi arrived. 

Izumi immediately rushed to the table and took a seat at one of the spots, while Nezumi just stood there, his eyes fixated on Shion.

“Mom, go sit down, I’ll serve the rest of the food,” Shion informed softly, watching his mom nod.

Smiling softly at him, she replied, “thank you honey.” before taking a seat on Izumi’s right side. 

“Thank you for letting us eat with you,” Nezumi spoke 

Karan shook her head softly “don’t mention it, I couldn’t possibly let you starve.” 

Shion finished serving the plates and sat down. 

To his surprise, his mom didn’t start asking the siblings questions about themselves as he had imagined she would. Instead, she ate her dinner quietly.

Shion listened to how his mom’s thoughts were all about the food she prepared, commenting on the condiments she had put, it was almost as if she was trying to conceal her real thoughts 

No, what was he thinking? Why would his mom conceal her thoughts from him? It made no sense, he was thinking nonsense. 

Dinner went by quietly and once everyone was done with their food, Shion stood up again. “I’ll do the dishes.” He declared 

“I’ll help you,” Nezumi said as he stood up as well. Shion didn’t reply and just made his way to the sink, carrying some of the dishes while Nezumi carried the rest. 

“You wash, I dry?” Shion suggested with a smile. 

Nezumi stared at him for a while again, almost as if he had seen a ghost before nodding quickly. 

“That sounds perfect.” He replied as he grabbed the sponge and began scrubbing the dirty dishes. 

Shion found himself enjoying being in Nezumi’s company, even though he could hear his mom and Izumi chat about something at the dinner table, they were far enough that he couldn’t hear their thoughts. 

And, with Nezumi by his side, he almost felt normal. It was the first time in his life he could be next to someone in silence and actually have silence. 

Once they were done with cleaning, drying, and putting away the dishes, Shion and Nezumi went back to the table where the silence stopped and everything became loud again. 

His mom and Izumi were still chatting and their thoughts were so loud it made Shion’s head hurt. 

“Oni-chan, Miss Karan says that she can take us to visit the village tomorrow morning!” Izumi exclaimed, her eyes almost sparkling from excitement. 

Shion tilted his head “but Mom, didn’t you have to do the cake for the Mizuki’s 40 year anniversary party?” 

“Oh, that’s right! I completely forgot!” Karan exclaimed, pausing to look at Shion before adding. 

“Can you take them, Shion?.” 

Shion frowned, weekends were the days he avoided leaving the house since most people went out during the weekends. It was hard not to run into more than a couple of people.

“We can explore on our own.” Nezumi intervened 

“No, it’s fine, I’ll take you guys,” Shion replied and watched Izumi’s face illuminate.    
  
“Thank you, Shion!” she exclaimed.

He watched how Nezumi smiled fondly at his sister, ruffling her hair and it made Shion’s hands raise to his own head, wondering how it felt to be touched like this. 

He bit his lower lip and lowered his hand from his hair with a sigh. “I’ll go to bed, sleep well everyone,” he mumbled before making his way towards the staircase. 

He heard his mom and Izumi wish him goodnight, which made him turn around to smile softly at them before climbing up the stairs.

Shion felt jealous; he knew it was stupid and couldn’t help but envy the little familiar touches Nezumi had with Izumi.    
  
Shion wished he could have the same gestures with his mom but it had been years since he hadn’t hugged her or held her hand. 

He knew his mom loved him beyond anything, she showed it to him daily in so many different ways but Shion couldn’t help but crave physical demonstrations of love.

He understood that it was hard for his mom as well and respected that she didn’t want her most inner thoughts to be exposed to her son but he also wished she didn’t care as much so he could hug her from time to time, even for a couple of seconds. 

He sighed as he entered his bedroom and went to the bathroom. After brushing his teeth, he went back to his room and turned off the light before climbing into his bed, hoping he’d fall asleep quickly.

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The clock indicated 3 am and Shion still hadn’t been able to fall asleep. Just as he thought he was finally falling asleep, his bladder betrayed him and forced him to get up and go to the bathroom.    
  
After coming out of the bathroom, Shion felt thirsty so he made his way out of his room and down the hallway.

Shion liked the night when everyone was asleep because he couldn’t hear anyone’s thoughts while they were asleep unless he touched them.

He made his way down the stairs and to the kitchen; he opened one of the cupboards and grabbed a glass of water. He then opened the faucet and filled his glass before closing it. 

He placed the glass of water on the counter before turning around and gasped, jumping in fear as he saw Nezumi standing in front of him.

“Jesus- You’re scared me half to death!” Shion spoke, placing his hand on his chest, feeling how his heart was almost jumping out of his chest from how loudly it was beating.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Nezumi spoke softly, moving closer to Shion and lifted an arm above Shion’s head to open the same cupboard and grab a glass of water for himself. 

Shion swallowed as he felt trapped between the kitchen counter and Nezumi’s body.    
  
“It’s fine, you’re just so quiet, I didn’t know you were there,” Shion replied, swallowing as Nezumi moved away from him a bit to open the faucet and filled his glass with water. 

Shion grabbed his own glass and hopped on the kitchen counter, swinging his legs as he began to slowly sip his water.

He watched Nezumi drown his water at once before setting the glass on the counter again and how his eyes settled on Shion’s legs, moving up his body until he reached his face, which had Shion’s face heat up and look away quickly.

“Shion, can I ask you something?” Nezumi spoke

“Sure, tell me,” Shion replied with a grin, feeling giddy with excitement as it was the first time that he didn’t know what someone was going to ask him before they even asked him anything.

  
“What’s your last name?” 

“Kobayashi, why?” Shion replied, tilting his head, curious. 

  
Nezumi shook his head before asking another question, “Did you live here all your life?”

Shion hummed and nodded “yup, my mom told me I was born and raised here.” he replied with a smile before adding “why all the questions though?”

It was fun not knowing why someone thought something but it also made him super curious. 

Normally, all the answers were given to him, whether he wanted them or not, but now, with Nezumi, there was a mystery.

He only heard the things Nezumi wanted him to hear. 

“I’m just curious, that’s all,” Nezumi replied, watching Shion intensely.    
  
“What about this scar? Did you have it all your life?” Nezumi asked as he caressed the mark on Shion’s cheek, making Shion’s heart race in his chest and his face feel even warmer than before.

He couldn’t even hear Nezumi’s inner thoughts when he touched him! This was incredible!

“Yes, it’s a birthmark. My mom says I was teased for it since I was little, are you going to tease me for it too?” Shion asked, confused why Nezumi was asking him so many questions. Was he trying to mock him? 

Nezumi frowned, pulling his hand away “No, I would never do that. People who do that are pure scum.” 

Shion looked into Nezumi’s eyes, and hummed “okay, I believe you.” 

Shion didn’t know why, but Nezumi’s eyes were sincere. 

“We- We should go to sleep,” Shion said after a moment, still looking into Nezumi’s eyes, hypnotized by how gorgeous they were.

“Together?” Nezumi asked with a smirk, making Shion gasp, blushing even harder.

“It’s a joke,” he added quickly. 

Shion nodded “of course, I knew that.” He replied, before clearing his throat and hopping off the kitchen counter and set his glass of water in the sink before he made his way towards the staircase. 

He turned around to look at Nezumi before whispering “Good night, sleep well.” and turned back, climbing up the stairs. 

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In the morning, Shion woke up sweating, even though he hadn’t slept covered with his blanket, the room was so hot that he still woke up sweating. 

That’s why the first thing he did was take a long cold shower. Once he felt refreshed enough, he stepped out of the shower and dried himself.    
  
He decided to dress in a pink t-shirt paired with pink shorts that had ruffles at the hem and white and pink striped knee socks, finally adding white sneakers to that.    
  
Once he was all dressed, he finished drying his hair with the towel before he put on some unscented sunscreen and a bit of lip balm.    
  
He exited his room and went downstairs to find a note from his mom on the table, telling him that she had made blueberry muffins for them and that she had left them in the oven. 

Shion began setting the table and took the muffins out of the oven, putting one on each plate as well before deciding he didn’t want to wait until Nezumi and Izumi woke up so he’d go wake them up himself.

He climbed up the stairs and stood in front of what used to be Safu’s bedroom and knocked on the door twice. 

The door opened revealing a shirtless Nezumi, his hair still wet from the shower he took and had a towel wrapped around his waist, holding it up with one hand. 

Shion's eyes travelled on Nezumi’s body and felt his face heat up instantly. “G-Good Morning, I just came to wake you guys up but I see that you’re up already.” 

Nezumi smiled and nodded “yup, Izumi’s in the shower right now, we’ll be down in a moment.”    
  
Shion nodded “okay, sounds good.” He replied with a smile but his eyes didn’t leave Nezumi’s chest. 

He watched how a droplet of water rolled down from the ends of his hair down his collarbone to his nipple, staying there, making Shion swallow thickly. 

“Is there anything else or are you going to keep ogling me?” Nezumi asked, making Shion look up at Nezumi with wide eyes.    
  
“N-No, that’s all, I’ll leave you to change,” he replied quickly before rushing down the hallway.

He stopped at the start of the stairs and sat down on the first step. He began fanning himself, feeling like his whole body was on fire. Shion felt so flustered and embarrassed. 

What was happening to him? He had never felt this way before in his life... 

He sighed and went downstairs, making his way to the sink and splashed some water on his face to calm the fire he felt inside. 

Once he felt a bit more refreshed, Shion dried his face with a paper towel before sitting down at the table and began eating his muffin.    
  
Just as he was finished, he watched Nezumi and Izumi make their way into the kitchen.

  
“You made us breakfast?” Izumi beamed 

Shion smiled gently “actually, my mom did, I just put them on a plate.” 

Izumi grinned as she sat down “thank you so much!” 

Shion hummed, smiling as he observed how Nezumi grabbed the muffin on his plate and lifted it with his right hand.

He noticed how there was a silver ring on Nezumi’s thumb, making his hand look prettier than it already looked, adorning his long delicate finger.

He watched how Nezumi lifted the muffin to his pink lips and bit into it. It had Shion swallow thickly, how was someone so attractive?    
  
Nezumi looked like a Greek god, like the picture of those statues he had in his old history textbooks. 

Grey eyes met Shion’s red eyes curiously; searching his face for something Shion couldn’t quite understand but made his skin burn like a fire was being lit from within. 

“I should go brush my teeth.” Shion declared as he got up from the table suddenly and rushed towards the staircase, tackling the steps two at a time in hopes of getting upstairs more quickly.

After brushing his teeth, Shion splashed his face with cold water a couple of times in hopes of calming himself. 

As Shion exited the bathroom, he bumped into Izumi.    
  
\-- _ ”I need to feed the rats”-- _ Shion heard as he bumped into her.    
  
He watched how her eyes widened and she hid something behind her back  _ \--”He can’t know I stole an apple, he’ll get mad.”  _

Shion smiled softly, understanding that what the girl was hiding was an apple she had taken from the fruit bowl from downstairs.

“You don’t need to hide it, as long as you’ll stay here, think of this house as your own house okay?” Shion said gently. 

He watched how Izumi’s eyes widened and she brought her hands to the front again, showing the apple before nodding gently.

“Thank you Shion!” she replied with a grin before adding “Do you want to come to meet our rats?” 

Shion nodded and hummed “I’d love to!” 

Izumi entered what used to be Safu’s room and led Shion to what used to be Safu’s desk, on top of which there was a small pet carrier.    
  
He watched how Izumi opened the pet carrier and pulled out a brown rat “this one is Cravat.” she explained before putting it back and pulled out a white rat “this one is Hamlet.” she said before putting the rat back down as well and finally took out the last one, a black rat. “This one is Tsukiyo.” 

Shion grinned “they are so cute!” he squealed “shouldn’t they be in a bigger cage though?” he asked, worried that the little animals might not enjoy the confined space.

“They used to have a huge cage at home but we couldn’t transport it so we put them in there.” Nezumi’s voice said from behind, making Shion spin around to look at him.

“Izumi, go brush your teeth and put on sunscreen,” Nezumi added, gesturing to the bathroom behind him. 

Izumi nodded and handed Tsukiyo to Shion, who awkwardly grabbed the rat, unsure of how to hold it and scared to hurt it. 

Tsukiyo wriggled between both of Shion’s palms, making him giggle. “It tickles!” 

“Tsukiyo doesn’t like to be held so much,” Nezumi said, startling Shion as he hadn’t realized that the taller male had gotten close to him.

“Are you always so quiet?” Shion grumbled, mostly to himself. With Izumi in the bathroom, the room had grown quiet again and he wasn’t used to it.

“My apologies to your majesty, I’ll announce my presence to you next time.” Nezumi teased, making Shion roll his eyes. 

He placed Tsukiyo back into the pet carrier and watched how the rats struggled to find a spot for themselves in there.

“Did you know that Izumi trained them?” 

Shion looked up at Nezumi and tilted his head, confused. “What do you mean? Like dogs?”    
  
Nezumi chuckled and nodded “yeah, kind of. They recognize their names and come when you call them but they also bring stuff to you if it’s small enough to fit in their mouths and light enough for them to lift it.”

Shion listened to Nezumi’s words, amazed. “Really? Wow! That’s amazing!”    
  
Nezumi smirked, “wanna see?”    
  
Shion nodded enthusiastically, “I’d love to!” 

“I’ll show you later.”    
  
Shion’s face fell into a pout “Why not right now?” he asked

Nezumi chuckled, lifting a hand to Shion’s face and pressed a finger to his cheek “Because I don’t want to show you now, plus we need to go explore the village,” he teased

Shion’s face was growing hotter by the second; he pushed Nezumi’s hand away. “F-Fine, show me later,” he mumbled 

“Oni-chan, do I really need to put on sunscreen?!” Izumi whined as she exited the bathroom with the sunscreen bottle in her hands. 

Nezumi sighed “You don’t have to, but don’t come crying to me when you’ll be sunburnt.” he replied 

Izumi groaned dramatically “Fine…” she mumbled before smiling playfully and handed the sunscreen to Nezumi. “Do it for me?”   
  
Nezumi rolled his eyes as he grabbed the sunscreen from his sister’s hands “Are you a baby? You can do it yourself!” he grumbled but proceeded to squirt sunscreen on the tip of his fingers and began applying it to his sister’s face.

Shion couldn’t help but find so endearing the way Nezumi took care of his sister.

“You’re such a good brother, your parents must be so proud of you,” Shion spoke, not missing how Nezumi halted his actions. 

“We don’t have parents,” Izumi replied casually, as if it was the most natural thing in the world which shocked Shion.

Nezumi stayed quiet, not replying as he kept working on the task at hand. 

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” Shion said softly but when he didn’t get a response back, he looked down.

“I’ll wait for you downstairs,” Shion added after a while, scared to have made things awkward.

He exited what used to be Safu’s bedroom and went to his room, grabbing the small messenger bag he used to hold all his essentials and went downstairs to wait for the siblings.

Shion didn’t have to wait too long though because soon Izumi was rushing down the stairs, with Nezumi in tow, a small camera bag hanging from his shoulder.

“Lead the way,” Nezumi told Shion, making the smaller boy nod.

“Alright!” Shion exclaimed “If we go straight ahead, we have the town hall, the restaurant, the doctor’s, the hairdresser, the grocer’s, and the clothing store I work at.” he informed, pausing before pointing to his left.

“If we go to the left we have the veterinary, the police station, the firefighter’s station, most of the houses, and the beach.” Shion said before pointing to his right “and if we go to the right, we have more houses, the bakery, the school, the post office, the playground, and the train station.” 

They decided to go straight ahead, Izumi insisting that she wanted to see where Shion worked.

On their way there, Nezumi snapped many pictures of their surroundings. 

Shion took the siblings to his workplace, introducing them to his boss. He observed how Izumi looked at the clothes before they exited the clothing store.

He showed them around the whole area, thankful that not that many people were walking around, though the little people that passed them by had Shion grit his teeth at the pain of having so many thoughts mixed inside his head.

“Can we eat here?” Izumi asked as they passed the restaurant.    
  
“I can make us food at home,” Shion suggested, watching how the tables outside were already filled with families enjoying their lunch. 

To someone from the city like Izumi or Nezumi, 10 tables filled probably wasn’t such a big thing, but to Shion, this was a lot of people. 

“I want to eat here, it smells so good! Please Shion!” Izumi tugged on Shion’s arm, trying to pull him towards the restaurant.

“Izumi, don’t pressure Shion.” Nezumi intervened before giving Shion a small look “I’ll pay for all of us.” he informed him.

Shion could see how Nezumi was trying to be helpful, it wasn’t the cost of the meal Shion was worried about. It was a small restaurant in their little village, the meals barely cost anything. 

“Uh- I- uh- okay...” Shion replied with a hesitant smile, trying not to let it show how apprehensive he was. 

How could he explain to Nezumi and Izumi that hearing the thoughts of all those people all at once in his head, mixed with their vocal conversations would be too much for him to handle?    
  


He couldn’t. 

So Shion let himself be dragged inside the restaurant by Izumi but as soon as he stepped close to the group of people, his mind began getting assaulted by all their thoughts. 

He raised his hand to his head, closing his eyes as he was hit with a wave of nausea provoked by the splitting headache he was feeling. 

Shion opened his eyes again only to find himself face to face with a concerned Nezumi. 

He saw his lips move, but Shion couldn’t hear a word he had said. 

It was as if someone had put some invisible headphones in Shion’s ears and played a recording of a million voices all speaking at the same time on full volume. 

“Are you okay?” Shion was able to read from Nezumi’s lips, watching how his brows were knit with concern. 

“Migraine,” Shion replied, unsure if the words had even left his mouth as he couldn’t even hear his own voice. 

He watched how Nezumi said something to Izumi but before he could comprehend anything, Shion started feeling extremely dizzy, all of the sounds being too much for him which only made him want to cry.

He dropped to his knees and placed his arms over his ears, his hands tangling themselves in his hair as he began to pull at his hair in desperation. 

The tears began following freely, rolling down his cheeks as it all became too much. “Make it stop! It’s too loud! I can’t- I can’t-!” He sobbed, unsure yet again if the words left his mouth. 

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulders, and just as quickly as the loud noises had assaulted his brain; the loud noises vanished. 

And for the first time in forever, the world went quiet.   
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Shion couldn’t believe it, for the first time in his whole life, he could only hear the background noise of the people chatting in the restaurant, it was still loud but it wasn’t as loud as when the voices reached the inside of his head. 

It felt so normal, so peaceful that Shion couldn’t quite believe it was true.    
  
Slowly, he opened his eyes only to see Nezumi crouching in front of him, looking at him with his brows knit with concern.

“Shion, are you alright?” Nezumi asked slowly, his voice barely a whisper.

“It stopped,” Shion whispered, astounded. 

“What stopped?” Nezumi asked, this time his voice was higher and he frowned, confused before pulling his hand away from Shion’s shoulder.

The second Nezumi’s hand left his shoulder, the voice returned and this time, it sounded 10 times worse since Shion was getting used to the soothing silence.

A piercing scream made his whole body shake as Shion pulled on his hair again “No! I can’t take it! Make it stop!” he yelled

“Shion!! What the hell is going on?” Nezumi asked, grabbing both of Shion’s wrists to make him stop pulling his hair. 

As soon as Nezumi’s hands touched him again, the voices stopped again and Shion opened his eyes once more, tears rolling down his cheeks as he looked up at Nezumi with pleading eyes.

“Don’t let go of me, please! Whatever you do, don’t let go of me until we leave the restaurant, I beg you!” Shion sobbed

“A-Alright, I won't, I promise…” Nezumi replied softly, before helping Shion up.    
  
As Shion stood up again, he noticed that not only was Nezumi looking at him with concern but so was Izumi, as well as a waitress and he noticed how every person in the restaurant had turned to look at him to see what was going on. 

He could recognize most of the faces in this restaurant since the village was so small, everyone knew everybody and for sure everyone knew who he was. 

It wasn’t like Shion blended in with the other villagers, but he was known for outbursts like this so it didn’t bother him as much anymore that everyone looked at him with pity, he just hoped he would never see that look on Nezumi’s face.

Shion kept his gaze on the floor, avoiding anyone’s face as he clung to Nezumi’s arm on the way out of the restaurant.

He would have assumed that Nezumi would have made Shion let go of him on their way back but instead, he let him cling to his arm until they arrived home. 

“Shion, are you alright now?” Izumi asked as soon as they stepped inside the house.

Shion nodded slowly “Yes I’m fine now, I’m sorry if I made you worry, both of you.” he replied, looking up at Nezumi as he said the last words. 

“What happened there, Shion?” Nezumi asked   
  
Shion chewed on his lower lip, he couldn’t possibly tell them? Or maybe he could? He wasn’t sure why, but he felt it in his bones that he could trust them.

He would tell them, now he just hoped that they would believe him…

“Can you come to sit down with me?” He asked gently

Izumi nodded and they followed Shion to the living room. He sat down on the floor as Izumi and Nezumi took place on the couch. 

Shion lowered his gaze to the floor, not daring to look at the siblings as he spoke up “I can hear people’s thoughts.”


	3. Nezumi

_ “I can hear people’s thoughts.”  _   
  


Nezumi burst out laughing only to stop when he noticed Shion’s serious eyes on him. 

“What? You’re joking, right? You can’t possibly be serious…” He scoffed

“I don’t think he’s joking, Oni-chan…” Izumi replied looking at him before looking back at Shion and with a grin, she spoke again “It’s so cool that you can read minds? Are you like a superhero? Is it your only superpower? Can-” 

“Izumi!” Nezumi hissed, annoyed that his sister was believing that bullshit.

“If you don’t want to tell us what happened in the restaurant it’s fine by me but don’t invent some bullshit none-sense. You might fool my sister but you can’t fool me.” Nezumi grumbled, getting up from the couch.

“It’s the truth! I swear!” Shion yelled, getting up from the floor as well. “Why would I lie about something like this?” He asked, his eyes filling up with tears.   
  
Nezumi scoffed “I don’t know, maybe you’re crazy?” He watched how Shion’s eyes widened and how he bit his lower lip before looking away.

“I’m not crazy…” Shion whispered

“Okay, then prove it. Read my mind then, what am I thinking?” Nezumi asked, challenging Shion. 

He watched how Shion played with his fingers nervously before shaking his head “I-I can’t-“ 

Nezumi scoffed “of course you can’t, because mind reading doesn’t exist.” 

“No, I meant I can’t read your mind. I can read everyone else’s mind but yours.” Shion replied, making Nezumi frown. 

“Why can’t you read mine?” 

Shion shrugged “I don’t know…” 

“I still don’t believe you.” 

“Oni-chan, how about you tell me something and then Shion reads it from my mind?” Izumi suggested, cutting them off.

Nezushi sighed and ran a hand through his hair, “Fine, let’s try it.” He replied, deciding to humor them. 

“I’ll go upstairs so I can’t hear it right away.” Shion said before rushing up the stairs. 

Nezumi made his way towards his sister and sighed again “do you really believe him?” 

“I do! Shion seems so sweet, he wouldn’t lie about this.” Izumi replied

Nezumi scoffed “we’ve just met him, people aren’t always how they appear to be.” 

“I know but you know I don’t trust people easily and I trust Shion.” Izumi assured 

Nezumi smiled and ruffled his sister’s hair before leaning in and whispered “I used to have a best friend called Shion when I was young.” 

Izumi blinked “your friend- the one who died; he was called Shion?” She whispered, surprised about the information. 

Nezumi nodded, he had never told his sister about Shion’s name, the only time he had spoken about it was when Izumi had asked about the picture and he had told her that it was his best friend who died. 

They called Shion back down and immediately, Shion gasped. “Nezumi, you had a best friend called Shion, just like me? Oh… he died.. I’m so sorry…” 

Nezumi blinked, frozen in place. Shion could really read people’s minds…

He sat down on the couch again, feeling like his legs were starting to shake. This was crazy, how could things like this exist in the world?

“Nezumi, are you okay?” Shion asked, his brows knit with concern. 

“I’m fine.” He managed to mumble

“You don’t look fine, you look really pale, Oni-chan.”

“I’m fine.” Nezumi pressed, annoyed that his sister handled the information as if Shion had just told them something completely normal. 

“I’ll get you a glass of water.” Shion said quickly, rushing to the kitchen before coming back with water for Nezumi. 

“Thanks.” He mumbled, thankful for the water which he drank it all at once. 

“Can I ask you about your powers now?” Izumi asked Shion as the boy was sitting back down on the floor. 

Shion nodded with a small smile “Sure, go ahead. I wouldn’t call them powers though, it’s more like a curse for me really…” he replied, his smile turning sad.

“What can you do besides reading minds?” 

“That’s it, I can hear people’s fleeting thoughts as far as 9 feet around me and whenever I touch someone, I can see deeper into their minds.” 

“Wow, that’s so cool!” Izumi gasped 

Shion shook his head “it’s not actually, I hate it. It’s horrible, I can’t control it at all so whenever someone is near me, I can hear everything they are thinking at the moment.” 

“Can you hear what I’m thinking now?” Izumi asked 

“Yes, I can hear it all the time. The only person I can’t hear their thoughts is Nezumi.” 

“Why him? Why is he different?” 

Shion shrugged “I have no idea, I don’t even know why I can hear people’s minds, it was just like this ever since I was little.” 

“and why do you hate it so much? It’s so cool, I’d love to be able to read people’s minds.” 

Shion chuckled “trust me, you’d get tired of it. I can only handle having 4 people’s thoughts at once in my head, any more than that it gets too overwhelming. Even with 4 people in my head, I get really bad headaches but I’ve learned to just live with it.” 

“Is that why you started screaming in the restaurant?” Nezumi spoke up, curious. 

He watched how Shion fiddled with the hem of his shorts and nodded “yes, I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to cause a scene, it was just too sudden and too much, I couldn’t handle it.” 

“Don’t apologize Shion, I’m sorry we made you go in.” Nezumi replied

“Yeah, I’m so sorry Shion.” Izumi mumbled 

“It’s fine, you didn’t know.” Shion replied with a smile. 

“How does it feel to have lots of people in your head?” Izumi asked 

As Shion answered, Nezumi began thinking about something. Why did Shion calm down when he put his hand on his shoulder? 

“Shion, why did you ask me not to let go of you and why did you calm down when I touched your shoulder?” He asked

Shion looked up at him “for some reason, when you touched me earlier, it suddenly got quiet and I couldn’t hear people’s thoughts anymore.” 

Nezumi blinked “and is that the first time it happened?” 

Shion nodded slowly before grinning and getting up from the floor. 

“I have an idea! Can we test it?” 

Nezushi blinked slowly, not understanding “test what?” 

“Put your hand on my shoulder again and see if I can hear Izumi’s thoughts.” 

“Oh! Yes! That’s a great idea, try it, Oni-chan!” Izumi replied, all excited about the experiment. 

Nezumi got up from the couch and moved towards Shion, only stopping once he was inches away from him. Slowly, he placed a hand on Shion’s shoulder, his fingers brushing the side of Shion’s neck. 

He watched how Shion looked up at him with his big doe eyes. It amazed Nezumi how even Shion’s eyelashes were white just like his hair. 

His cheeks were rosy and his lips were a soft pink color with a hint of red where Shion had been biting on his lower lip. 

Even with the scar on his cheek that curled around his neck and body, Shion looked like a porcelain doll. 

He was so beautiful that Nezumi couldn’t help but feel captivated by him. 

“Can you hear it?” He whispered 

“Hear what?” Shion whispered, looking deeply into Nezumi’s eyes. 

“Izumi thoughts,” 

“Oh! No, I can’t hear them, I forgot about it.” Shion admitted with a chuckle “everything is so peaceful and quiet, I got distracted.” He replied, a small blush tinting his cheeks. 

Nezumi chuckled and moved his hand away. 

Immediately, he noticed how Shion’s eyelashes fluttered and raised his hand to his forehead, rubbing between his eyebrows which Nezumi assumed he did to try and get rid of the headache. 

“Can we try something else?” Shion asked 

“Sure, what do you want to try?” Nezumi questioned 

“Can you touch my shoulder and then I’ll touch Izumi’s to see if I can hear her thoughts?” 

Nezumi hummed “sure,” 

They moved closer to Izumi and Nezumi placed his hand on Shion’s shoulder before Shion placed his own on Izumi’s shoulder.

In seconds, Nezumi watched how Shion’s eyes widened and a huge grin adorned his face as tears rose up to his eyes.

“It works! I can’t hear anything!” He cried 

“Shion?” A voice came from the kitchen door, startling them. 

Nezumi looked around to see Karan standing by the door, a strange look on her face, a mixture of fear and anger. 

“Mom! I can’t hear your thoughts either, this is incredible!” Shion spoke, letting out a shaky laugh. 

“Shion.” Karan spoke, her voice sharper “come here please.” 

Nezumi watched as Shion blinked, confused by his mom’s reaction before biting his lower lip and nodding gently. 

“Can you guys go upstairs please?” He whispered, looking up at Nezumi with pleading eyes. 

“Of course.” Nezumi replied quickly, letting go of Shion and pulled Izumi to her feet. 

He hurried her to the stairs, bowing slightly at Karan on his way. 

He could sense a frightening aura coming from her which made him want to leave quickly. 

“Do you think Shion is going to get in trouble for telling us his secret? Karan looked angry.” Izumi asked as soon as they were back in their room. 

Nezumi sighed as he sat down on the bed “I hope not.” He replied before kicking his shoes off and lying down on the bed with his legs crossed one on top of the other. 

“How do you feel about all of this? Aren’t you shocked? It’s really crazy that something like mind-reading exists…” Nezumi asked, exhaling. 

He was still in shock over that new discovery, it felt all too weird, almost like he was watching a movie of himself and not living in the real world. 

Izumi hummed “Nope, I’m not shocked. It’s so cool, I always believed that superpowers existed!” she exclaimed 

Nezumi sighed and sat up “it’s not a superpower, Shion suffers because of it. It’s not fun or cool.” 

Izumi rolled her eyes “to you. To me, it’s super cool. It makes him special.” 

Nezumi scoffed “it doesn’t, he doesn’t need a stupid ability to be special. He already is.” He replied 

“Can I use your laptop, onii-chan?” Izumi asked

“Sure, I’ll take a nap then.” Nezumi replied with a yawn, closing his eyes.

He didn’t realize when he fell asleep but he was awoken by Izumi shaking his shoulder harshly. 

“Onii-chan, wake up! Karan wants to talk to us downstairs!” Izumi urged

Nezumi opened his eyes with a groan, lifting his hand to his head to try and stop the headache he was feeling. 

Why was it that every time he took a nap, he’d wake up feeling worse than before? 

Behind Izumi, he noticed Shion standing there with a nervous look on his face. 

“Give me a second, I need to use the bathroom.” He mumbled, getting up from the bed. 

After peeing, brushing his teeth and splashing some water on his face, he emerged out of the bathroom. 

“Let’s go.” 

They went downstairs where Karan was waiting for them at the dining room table. 

“Mom, before you say anything, let me give Nezumi a painkiller.” Shion spoke, making Nezumi blink in surprise. 

“How did you know I had a headache?” He asked, confused. “I thought you couldn't read my mind?” 

Shion blushed “I can’t but I noticed by how you acted.” He replied before moving over to the kitchen to fill up a glass of water. 

Nezumi sat down and watched how Shion opened up a cabinet, pulling out a bottle of pills. He heard some shuffling before Shion came back to the table. 

“Here, I cut the pill in half since it’s very strong, I don’t want you feeling worse because of it.” Shion said as he handed one half of the pill to Nezumi along with a glass of water. 

“Thank you.” Nezumi whispered, swallowing the pill before drinking some water. 

“Alright, I’m listening.” Nezumi added, watching Karan. 

“Shion, can you go upstairs while I talk to them?” 

“Why? I already know what you’re going to say-“ 

“Shion, please.” Karan asked, looking up at her son. 

The smaller boy pouted and sighed “Fine.” He grumbled before going upstairs. 

“Are you mad at us?” Izumi asked Karan, her voice small as she looked up at her. 

Karan’s face softened as she looked at Izumi “No sweety, I’m no mad. I’m just worried.” She said, pausing to exhale before looking at both of the siblings. 

“Shion is the most important thing in my life, I have dedicated my whole life to him and to protect him. I know you’re good people but I really need you to understand what is at stake here. I need to make sure I can trust you not to say anything to anyone in regards to Shion's abilities. If you did, the consequences could be horrible, he could be in terrible danger.” Karan spoke

Nezumi nodded “you can trust us. We would never say a word to anyone. We’d never do anything to put Shion in danger. Right, Izumi?” 

Izumi nodded quickly “We’ll protect Shion, we won’t tell a soul.” 

Karan smiled, “thank you.” She said, grabbing both Nezumi and Izumi’s hands and squeezed them. 

“I’ll trust you to keep Shion’s secret, even after you go back to No.6.” 

“Yes, we promise.” Nezumi replied while Izumi shook her head quickly. 

“Alright then, you’re free to go, I’ll start making dinner.” Karan exclaimed, getting up from the table with a smile. 

“Can I help?” Izumi asked 

“Sure, you can!” Karan replied with a grin “Do you want to help too, Nezumi?” 

Nezumi shook his head “I’ll pass today, I’ll go keep Shion company.” He replied 

Karan nodded at him and Nezumi made his way upstairs. 

He passed his room to go to Shion’s room, noticing the door was open, he stepped in only to find the white-haired boy at his desk, drawing something. 

He had a pair of glasses on and seemed to be very concentrated on what he was doing.

“What are you working on?” He asked, looking over Shion’s shoulder. 

He watched how Shion jumped and gasped before pushing the glasses up the bridge of his nose as they had slid down just so slightly.

“You scared me.” He whispered 

“I’m sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” Nezumi replied, an apologetic look on his face. 

“Where is Izumi?” Shion asked, looking at the door to see if she’d be strolling in after Nezumi. 

“Downstairs with your mom, she’s helping her make dinner.” 

Shion nodded “That’s nice.” He said before spinning his chair to face Nezumi fully.

“Did things go well with my mom?” He asked 

Nezumi hummed “yup.” He replied before taking a look around Shion’s room. 

He could see clothing patterns and clothing designs plastered against the wall. There was a table near Shion’s desk which had a sewing kit as well as a sewing machine on top of it. 

Next to the table, there was a sewing mannequin who was draped with some fabrics. 

“You sew?” Nezumi asked, impressed. 

Shion nodded “I make all my own clothes.” 

Nezumi raised his eyebrows in surprise “for real? So what you’re wearing now, you made it as well?” 

Shion nodded slowly. 

“Wow that’s amazing, you’re so talented!” Nezumi replied

Shion beamed at the compliment “thank you.” he replied with a small blush. 

“You should become a designer, seriously, you’re crazy talented.” Nezumi continued

Shion looked down, his glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose again, a sad smile adorning his face “That’s my dream actually but I doubt I could ever make it a reality…”

Nezumi frowned “Why not?”

“Because of my mind-reading… I would need to leave this village to become a designer, and that’s not something I can do…” 

  
“Oh…” Nezumi had forgotten for a second about Shion’s ability. “I’m sorry,” he added slowly, sitting down on Shion’s bed.

Shion shook his head “it’s fine, I get to make clothes for myself and my loved ones, that’s enough for me.” he replied before gasping “Speaking of! I almost forgot, come here.” he said, motioning Nezumi to move closer to him.

He got up from the bed and made his way closer to Shion, looking over his shoulder again. “I’m designing this for Izumi, do you think she’ll like it?” 

Nezumi looked down at the design of the floral dress Shion had been sketching and smiled “she’ll love it, it’s exactly her style.” 

Shion beamed again “I’m glad.” he replied, excited before turning around in his chair again, facing Nezumi once more. 

“Do you always wear black?” he asked

Nezumi chuckled “Yeah, why? Got a problem with it, your majesty?” 

Shion blushed and shook his head “It suits you.” he said before adding quickly “though, would you be opposed to having colored clothing?” 

Nezumi raised an eyebrow “why? Are you going to make me some clothes too?”    
  
Shion grinned and nodded “yes, I was planning to. Why? Do you dislike the idea?” he asked, his smile dropping, and lowered his head.

Nezumi bent slightly to grab Shion’s chin, lifting it up to make him look at him.    
  
He watched how Shion’s eyes went wide and blushed a deep shade of red as their eyes met. 

“I’d love to have clothes made by you but yes I’d much rather have them in black please,” he replied 

“A-Alright, I’ll buy black fabric,” Shion replied but still, Nezumi didn’t let go of his chin.

“I have a proposition for you though, I don’t want the clothes for free.”

“I won’t take your money, it’s a gift,” Shion interjected quickly, making Nezumi smile.

“I figured you’d say something like that, so instead of paying me with money, pay me with your body,” Nezumi replied 

Shion’s eyes widened and his face became redder before he pushed Nezumi’s hand away “w-w-what? I-I couldn’t- h-how- I-I’ve never- I mean- I-we’re not- uh-” 

  
Nezumi watched how Shion was struggling to form a response, making him laugh. “I didn’t mean it like that, you pervert. Model for me.” 

Shion blinked slowly, before tilting his head in confusion. “What do you mean by model for you?” he asked before hitting Nezumi on the arm. 

“I’m not a pervert, you didn’t have to phrase it like that,” he grumbled

Nezumi laughed softly and went to sit down on Shion’s bed again. “I’m a photographer, I don’t know if you’ve noticed me taking pictures when we went outside and I want to photograph you.” 

Shion frowned “Why me though? I’m not the best subject to photograph.”

“I disagree, you’re the perfect subject. Come on, let me photograph you.” Nezumi insisted

Shion blushed “I wouldn’t even know how to pose. I’m not a model.” 

“it’s fine, I’ll teach you,” Nezumi replied

Shion sighed after a moment and nodded, “Alright, fine.”

Nezumi smiled, satisfied. Shion would be such a fun model to work with. He had such unique features that made it worth photographing, not to mention that he was gorgeous. 

Nezumi wouldn’t admit that out loud though. 

“Cool, then how about tomorrow morning you dress up in your best outfit and I’ll take some pictures.” 

Shion nodded, blushing slowly. “That sounds good,” he replied before turning around again and went back to his drawing.

Nezumi watched Shion intensely, he wasn’t sure why but even though he had just met Shion, the boy didn’t feel like a stranger to him at all.

It didn’t help that the boy resembled his childhood crush so much… 

How could someone be such a spitting image of his dead friend? 

His thoughts got interrupted as there was a knock on the door. He lifted his head up to find Shion already looking at the door. 

He glanced at it and found his sister standing in the doorway. 

“Dinner’s ready.” She announced before turning around and leaving them alone once more.

Nezumi rised from Shion’s bed, stretching his arms as he watched how Shion set his glasses down on his desk. 

The sun was still shining outside as they made their way downstairs. They found the table already set and the plates of food already waiting for them.

“It smells good.” Nezumi commented. It had been a long while since he last had a good home cooked meal. 

He didn’t really know how to cook well, he usually stuck to soups and pasta whenever they didn’t eat takeout so this was a nice change.

“I cut the vegetables.” Izumi declared proudly. 

“Izumi was great, a natural in the kitchen. I was surprised to know it was her first time cooking. I imagined you guys would cook together.” Karan commented.

“I’m not good in the kitchen, and I was always scared Izumi would hurt herself,” Nezumi replied before poking at some vegetables with his fork and stuck it in his mouth.

Izumi stopped mid-chewing and huffed, “I’m not a baby anymore, I can take care of myself.”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Nezumi grumbled, shaking his head. 

He watched how Shion giggled softly next to him. 

“I asked Izumi to help me at the bakery tomorrow, I have to prepare everything for Monday and I was wondering if you boys would like to join,” Karan asked

  
“Sorry Mom, Nezumi and I have other plans.” Shion spoke quickly.   
  


Dinner was over quickly and soon it was time to wash the dishes. Just like the previous night, Nezumi offered his help to Shion and the boy replied once more. “You wash, I dry?”

_ “You wash, I dry?” _

It wasn’t an unusual phrase, something out of the ordinary but the previous night, when he had first heard Shion utter that sentence, it had shocked Nezumi.

Suddenly, he had been brought back in time and was staring at the face of an 11-year-old Shion, not this Shion but _ his _ Shion. A little boy with fluffy brown hair, huge doe-eyes, and a big smile was staring at him.    
  
Suddenly, he was staring into the face of a ghost. 

Just like the previous night, it had taken him a moment to snap out of the delusion and come back to the present. 

With his mind numb, he simply nodded at Shion before concentrating on the task at hand all while being thankful that Shion couldn’t read his thoughts.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this fic, if you did, please leave a comment to let me know what you enjoyed, it can be something simple or even just to tell me you liked it, every comment motivates me to keep writing☆☆☆ Don't forget to subscribe to the story so you can get an email notification every time I upload a new chapter!!  
> You can also follow me on my [twitter](https://twitter.com/kuronezuwrites) where you can come talk to me about my fic, will see news about upcoming updated, and can ask me anything you want.  
> Thank you for reading☆☆ ♡♡


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